Twin Angels of Death
by obliven1993
Summary: A new Incident shall erupt in Gensokyo soon, and two Youkai lie at the center of the coming storm. The two are ones who know death well, one having experienced it first hand, and the other finding it as a almost constant companion.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 Moonlight upon Borders of Life and Death**

The pale light of the blue full moon shined down upon the Forest of Magic, illuminating it in its pale glow. The Youkai of the dark forest all slept peacefully in the holes, caves, and crevices that they called home. Even the ones who normally came out at night found themselves staying inside. No one saw the figure on the tallest branch of the tree, looking out over the Dragon Gods entire realm. The very place she had assisted in separating from the outside world so long ago.

Yukari Yakumo was aware that soon another Incident would begin, and as she looked across to the mist covered lake on the edge of the forest and the mansion beyond it, she knew it lay at the center of the building storm. She couldn't help but smirk as she knew if she told others, they would believe she could see into the future. Yukari was no seer, she simply remained in tune with Gensokyo to keep it safe and protected from beings who would spell its destruction. Sometimes though, even the Border Youkai found herself hitting the first domino and wanting to see just how far this trail lead before it reached the end of the table. She could have prevented previous incidents, yet she did nothing. Because if she worked to prevent these Incidents, how would any of the beings of Gensokyo learn of the mistakes other Youkai have made? She also knew people would think this 'prediction' as they would call it referred to Remilia Scarlet, the owner of the Scarlet Mansion. Oh yes, It had to do with a Scarlet, but it was the one locked deep below the mansion. But also another, one who lived near the mansion but was not a resident, nor welcome. After all, why would one welcome the former Angel of Death of Makai into their home?

Yukari chuckled quietly; she was the only one she knew of truly aware of Cirno's former self, even the small ice fairy could not unlock those memories of a former life brought to a crashing end by the Red-White of Hakurei. She wondered how many others knew of the ice fairy's true self, for even she did not know all who knew. The Yama did, for she was the one who had sentenced the Seraph Sariel to being reborn as she is now. Yet even the Yama could not remove the powers and memories of someone as powerful as Sariel, and simply sealed them into the fairy's body. Yet even without knowing her original state, other Youkai felt uneasy around her or just simply found her annoying. To say the girl was lonely would be a lie however; she had found friends among a small group of weaker Youkai like herself. It was simply by luck that the Darkness Youkai that had become the former angels companion, yet they shared a seal on their true selves. Yukari wondered if the small Keeper of Darkness would have a role in the coming storm; The Border Youkai had certain events planned but knew not how large the waves her ripples would become.

Even the Shrine Maiden herself responsible for Sariels fall did not recognize the small creature as one of the first powerful opponents she had faced those many years ago. Yukari knew the lack of memories of the Shrine Maidens earliest battles were her fault, she had sealed them along with the gateway to Makai. She had felt it was a necessary step then, as Makai had slowly grown more and more unstable after Shinki had disappeared, and its violent energies had begun to force themselves into Gensokyo. Now though, she wondered if sealing those memories had truly been the best action. She had not completely erased Makai from existence however, for some of its residents were now living in Gensokyo. Many of those residents were hidden, but some were in plain sight. She stared off to the Doll Makers home, did that girl have any memories of her life as Shinki's daughter, or did she simply remember her life as Alice Margatroid, the human-turned-Youkai Doll Maker? Yukari did not know if even her powers were powerful enough to tear apart the bond of family, no matter how many barriers she erected between those memories and the conscious mind.

Her gaze drifted to the sunflower field where she knew the Flower Youkai had made her new home after her first run in with the Red-White Shrine Maiden and Black-White Witch. Was the flower Youkai awake or asleep on this night? Yukari did not know, for she was one of the few beings Yukari left to her own devices. Some would call her a fool for not keeping an eye on such a powerful and old Youkai, but only fools would risk the wrath of Yuuka Kazami. Even with all her strength, Yuuka could not hope to harm Yukari, yet she could still harm the few beings Yukari considered close. She would not risk that the Flower Youkai using Yukari's intrusions as an excuse for 'fun.' She also knew that for all of the Flower Youkai's jests, she would not cause an Incident like she did long ago.

The Border Youkai smiled as she felt another presence appear near her, she had wondered how long it would take her Shikigami to find her. She knew that Ran would not ask Yukari to return home, she allowed her mistress to do as she pleased. She also knew speaking back to her would simply lead to Yukari ignoring her words of warning, or punishing the Kitsune for speaking out of term. Yukari smiled as she saw what she had been waiting the entire night for, a movement near the edge of the mist covered lake. She knew the Ice Fairy's door was opening, and she would soon step out into the night that would change her life for all eternity. She watched as Cirno quickly flew out onto the lake, and rushed towards the mansion at its center. The fairy was clearly excited at something, and Yukari wondered just what the fairy had picked out of the letter to become so filled with energy.

Yukari wondered who would be the one to settle this Incident, or if by the end of it if she herself will be forced to step in to end the coming chaos and turmoil. She looked to the Black-Whites shop, and the Red-Whites Shrine. But she knew that while they very well might try, there were others who could stand against what was coming. The Maid would certainly do so, and if it was needed Yuyuko might send her Gardener to assist the others. Deep down Yukari wondered if by the end of this anyone would be able to stop this but the ones causing the events themselves.

As Yukari stood up on the branch she was sitting on, smiling silently to herself. She turned her head and her eyes settled upon Ran, the kitsune perched upon a branch of a tree near the one she sat upon.

"Come along, Ran. The pieces are set, and now we should watch the show." Yukari said, unable to hide the amusement in her voice as she opened a Gap, giving a final look at the Scarlet Devil Mansion before stepping through it on the journey home. She will watch the coming storm and as the pieces on the board moved, she would do her part in her slowly growing plan. Ran followed and the Gap shut behind the master and servant, leaving no trace. As she walked through the darkness, Yukari silently wondered why she was doing all of this.

Was there truly a mistake that other Youkai could learn from this, or was she simply doing this for fun? There were many factors, but as Yukari thought of the ones whose memory she had taken, and the one who had lost it in death, she knew exactly why she was doing this. Yukari knew that as these events unfolded, others from the time of Makai would appear once more. Yukari was hoping for this, as the best way for ones to remember even the deepest, darkest memories, would be to drag back to the forefront of their minds by making them reality once more.

"Everyone needed to know who they truly were and still are." Yukari spoke the whisper to herself, the words that had filled her thoughts and that had subconsciously had her body write the letter that had appeared to Cirno. With the letter the dominos had begun their fall on the table, and maybe even continue onto ones lined on the floor into infinity. In the end she knew, someone would have to stand in the way and stop the never ending trail.

A/N: So, I finally decided to sit down and start another Fic. I already have a number of chapters ready and you can plan on seeing them being uploaded over the next few days. To anyone wondering about Dark Sorrows, I lost interest in it long ago, but will upload the 3rd chapter I have later on.

Update: Fixed my run on sentences and have given chapters 1 and two a rewrite. I will be revising and reloading chapter 3 soon. Special Thanks to Wolfsbane706 for pointing out my large errors.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Cold Night of the Gatekeeper**

It was a quarter past 1 AM at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and its Oh-so-Reliable-and-Hard-Working Gatekeeper did not like it. She was exhausted, barely awake, and grumpy. She was being forced to guard through the night as what she expected was a punishment by her Mistress for failing to keep the mansion secure against Marisa Kirisame.

Hong Mei Ling had simply been ordered outside earlier in the evening by the Mistress without another word as to why, she assumed it was because of her allowing the Black-White Witch in once more. Mei Ling supposed she deserved punishment on the days she fell asleep and the witch simply snuck by, but it didn't make her feel any better. To try and keep her mind off the sweet embrace of sleep, she looked around at the Lake and areas beyond it, and not back at the large mansion behind her and her sweet bed located within it.

It was a strangely quiet night for the middle of summer, but at least it was still relatively warm. Cold simply makes the Chinese Youkai even sleepier, and she wouldn't be able to stand much longer if that happened. She thought it strange that she couldn't see any of the normal forest Youkai moving around across the lake, searching for food as they normally did at night. Not even that one that clouded herself in Darkness she had read about in the Tengus newspaper article was out, and she normally only finally rested her head by 3 AM.

The gatekeeper had seen that ball of darkness floating around night and day blindly, more than once running into a tree before continuing its aimless journey once more. She had always wondered what it was, but never found it when she had free time and had eventually given up investigating it. It was nice to know that it was simply a Youkai of Darkness and not a strange anomaly, there had been enough Incidents lately, and that was not counting the Scarlet Mist Incident she herself had been a part of.

The Spring Snow Incident had been much of a cause for alarm, and more importantly to Mei Ling, another constant annoyance. She hated winter; she had to stay outside in the freezing cold. To make matters worse, that Winter Youkai always seemed to be around the Lake, which caused there to almost always be a blizzard around, covering the stoic Gatekeeper in a mountain of powder and chilling her to her bones. She didn't mind winter when it is only a 4th of the year, and could even have fun on her days off playing in the snow with some of the Fairy Maids, or chatting with some of the local Youkai that lived near the Lake that only came out on cold days. But winter continuing on past where it's needed, let alone wanted is something the poor Gate Keeper could not stand for.

Thankfully, Sakuya had set off along with the Red-White Shrine Maiden Reimu, and the Black-White Witch Marisa as people began to realize the snow was continuing on into spring. She was hoping to hear that one of the 3 had shot down the fairy Lily White, and didn't have to sit through the fairy's annual ritual of flying all about Gensokyo screaming about Spring at the top of her lungs early in the morning, when she was still trying to get more sleep before she went outside to the gate. The Gatekeeper was displeased the following spring when she was awoken by the constant annoyance.

The Martial Arts expert had simply tried to ignore any of the other Incidents afterwards, at least up until the Geyser had appeared. She spent one of her days off at the Hot Springs, enjoying the relaxing waters and finally being able to completely unwind. Until the Witch and Shrine Maiden came bursting up out of the Geyser, almost making the Youkai jump out of her skin. They had explained that the Geyser had been the start of another Incident, and that they had just spent the past few hours underground settling some sort of trouble with a Hell Raven. Her day off ruined due the twos sudden appearance when she wanted a day to herself, the Gatekeeper had collected her belonging and returned to the Mansion. Mei Ling spent the trip back grumbling about how the Witch and her friend had ruined another day for her, and promised herself she would not allow another day be wasted thanks to the Book Thief.

Unfortunately, Hong had failed to keep that Promise, and was 'reaping the rewards of her laziness' as Mistress Remilia commonly put it whenever she punished her. Strangely though, this night she had not heard the phrase. She shook her head as her eyes fell on the tallest tree in the Forest of Magic, swearing she saw someone standing up on one of the highest branches, seemingly staring over at the Mansion. When she looked back she found the person had disappeared, and had quickly decided she was simply starting to hallucinate from sleep deprivation. Great, now she could only become an even better Gatekeeper with her own mind playing tricks on her.

"At least I'm managing to stay awake…" The Chinese Youkai mumbled to herself, before feeling a rush of cold air coming over her, and almost instantly falling forward onto the ground, the last of her willpower gone as she curled up on the path slightly. "Just a quick power nap, then I'll…I'll get right back to work." She mumbled, slowly shutting her eyes and falling asleep. The Gatekeepers tired mind not even registering to question where exactly the cold air could of come from.

Hours later, as the sun slowly rose over the mountains to in the east; Mei Ling was suddenly awoken by a sharp and painful kick to the side by a well-kept and polished shoe. She cried out at the pain and her eyes flew open, the blue orbs taking a few seconds to register the pair of angry red eyes staring down at her from under a fringe of silver hair. The Head Maid was displeased at Mei Ling, and for some reason she had a feeling it was for more than her falling asleep during her punishment.

"Good to see your awake, oh so hard working Gatekeeper." The Head Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion said. Her words practically dripped sarcasm as she reached down and pulled the Chinese Youkai up from the ground, her green dress covered in dirt from her 'nap.' Mei Ling tried not to look at her Mistress' Head Maids burning red eyes, but soon she had to stare up at her friend's eyes and was shocked to find that the girl looked exhausted. Heavy bags hung under her eyes, and her breath was coming in short, quick pants. The Gate Keeper then realized that being put out last night might not have been a punishment but instead a preparation for attack, the Mistress might have had another of her short visions of the future that she exhibited every now and again. Normally these visions were meaningless to them, but sometimes they would be a warning.

"Sakuya? What…what has happened?" She managed out, scared to learn of what her falling asleep the night before had caused. The maids eyes flared with rage as she roughly grabbed onto Hongs arm, and forcibly dragged her towards the mansion. The sense of dread only grew as Sakuya snarled "I'll show you." as she dragged Mei Ling to the back of the large mansion, the sight awaiting them made the Martial Artist freeze up.

Awaiting the two was a large gaping hole, blasted diagonally up out from under the mansion, and as she saw that the hole led all the way to the basement she knew just what had exhausted Sakuya. She had been out during the night searching for Flandre, the Mistress' younger and emotionally unstable sister. This wouldn't be the first time the girl had broken out, but she would normally sneak out, not blast a hole out…something strange was going on.

Before the Gatekeeper could ask, Sakuya gave her an answer. "You let an uninvited guest in last night when you fell asleep, and whoever it was knew exactly how to get into the basement and to the Mistress' Sister." She said, and sighed looking down at the ground, and then back at Mei Ling, her eyes softer and the anger gone, replaced with exhaustion as they turned back to blue from the fiery red. "I know we can't blame you Mei Ling, you had no idea you needed to pull an all-nighter when we pushed it upon you, but Mistress Remilia had not had the vision until yesterday evening. We thought with the naps you take at noon, you might have been able to stay up better." Sakuya admitted, confirming the Youkai's fears that she had been placed outside last night for a reason beyond a simple punishment. But now, the worry was no longer if she would be allowed to sleep this night like it had been hours before, but a question that Mei Ling had hoped she wouldn't ever have to ask herself…

Where was Flandre Scarlet?

**A/N: I am writing each chapter from a different characters perspective, and each chapter is meant to be as if it was written by them. Here, I wrote Mei Ling as hardworking, if lazy guardsmen. Her head is also full of fluff, which spilled out during the writing. Before anyone asks, the Rumia article mentioned is found in one of the print works.**

**Next Chapter Character: Rumia.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Discovery of Darkness**

Rumia sat quietly in the cave she called home; she glanced over at the small clock she had stolen from the strange white haired shop keeper. The pale blue lights of the block showing it was 10 AM, apparently modified to run off the natural magic of Gensokyo instead of…Eeelettricy, or whatever they called the magic that made things work in the outside world. She liked the clock, even in the dead of night she didn't have to go outside and stare up at the moon to see how long it was until day time; she could stay curled up in her nice warm bed. It was also shiny, Rumia likes shiny things.

Normally by now Cirno would have come along with the others to collect their friend. She was getting anxious, wanting to go outside and find her friends. Fear kept her in place, too frightened to go outside alone and without her Bubble of Darkness she would be defenseless. She rubbed her forehead as she felt a strange nagging feeling build up inside her, she didn't understand what it was but she didn't like it. She silently felt anger at herself for acting so foolish about going out alone, too scared of being attacked without her pitch black bubble or friends to protect her and drive off any would be attackers. Her cowardly mind then brought up the last time she had went out alone and without her bubble of darkness.

It had been the day that the strange Scarlet Mist covered the sky, and she had happily flown out without worry of the sun. She had been hungry and was searching for prey, and had ended up finding the Shrine Maiden. She hadn't taken Rumia's polite asking to eat her very well, and Rumia hadn't expected the Red-White dressed woman to be so good at Danmaku. She had lost quickly, falling to the ground like an injured bird. She had awakened hours later, but by then the Scarlet Mist was gone. The Darkness Youkai had been forced back to her cave by the bright sunlight, and the battle with the Shrine Maiden had left Rumia with a fear of the Miko.

When the clock silently beeped, Rumia was suddenly dragged from her thoughts of Reimu Hakurei. She glanced over at the clock and found it was now Noon; she needed to know if something was wrong, if one of her friends were hurt. The Youkai of Darkness pulled herself out of the pile of straw and blankets she had made into a bed, and slowly walked over to the exit to her cave, bones and scattered remains of the clothes of some of her meals sitting at the exit. She slowly poked her head outside, and looked around cautiously to be sure nothing was ready to pounce on her as soon as she walked outside.

She quickly made sure nothing was going try to eat or harm her, or was at least not right outside of her door planning to. She walked back into the cave and picked up a small scribbled on piece of paper from the small cabinet that Mystia had found her and given as a gift. The paper was a crude map the 3 friends had made for Rumia, so if the girl ever needed to find one of them she could by simply following the scribbles that led away from her cave. She pulled a key from her pocket and used it to unlock the cabinet door, her small trove of personal treasures revealed.

Rumia didn't have much, a small bag of coins, a copy of the newspaper article that had been written about her, and a small wooden doll that Rumia had named Rimua, the Youkai of Darkness had found the doll long ago, and it had been her first friend. She saw the item she was looking for and gently took the small wooden framed picture out of the cabinet, smiling at the familiar image of herself and her friends smiling back up at her. The picture had been taken a few months ago, after that bothersome Tengu had asked Rumia all those questions about when the Red-White had beat her up. Rumia had pestered the girl before she left if she would take a picture of Rumia and her friends, it took all 4 of them begging for the reporter to give in but in the end they all got a copy of the picture by the end of the week.

The picture had been taken on a sunny day, in the shade of the Forest of Magic. The image was supposed to have been of the 4 friends, arms intertwined and all smiling at the camera. It had ended up with Rumia on Cirno's shoulders and Mystia on the ground with Wriggle on top of her, the group had ended up getting into a bit of a fight while the reporter had been taking the picture. At least the group of friends had managed to all give big smiles at the camera when the picture was taken, before they had continued the brawl.

She looked at her friends smiling face, and used the image to force the courage up to go outside alone and look for them. She slowly put it back into the cabinet and shut it, locking it back before returning the small key to her pocket. She walked out of her cave warily, the small map held tightly in her hands as she looked down at it, trying not to wince in the almost blinding light of the sun. Her eyes didn't like the sun whenever she just came out, and she hoped eventually they would become friends with the sun and stop hurting her.

Once her eyes adjusted she slowly took off into the air, slowly flying in the direction of the misty lake and the small home of ice that her friend lived in. She flew over the Magic Forest carefully and aware of her surroundings, at this point terrified of what might jump up from the woods below and try to eat her. As she flew over the clearing where the Black-Whites home sat, she thought she saw an odd looking girl dressed in blue with silver hair going to the front door, she quickly ignored it. The Witch's friend was none of her concern, nor was she really interested in what the Black-White did in her free time. She could feel the temperature steadily drop as she moved closer to the lake, and then even more as she landed in front of the frozen home Cirno had created using her powers. It was a nice house, even if it was made mostly of ice, it was large and had enough space for 2, in case someone ever needed to stay with the Ice Fairy. Rumia had vocally professed how much she doubted anyone would want to stay in the house that wasn't another ice fairy, the comment had made Cirno think that Rumia didn't like the house and had refused to speak to the Darkness Youkai for a week afterwards.

She was shivering as she slowly and carefully walked to the door, careful not to slip on the frozen ground as she had to use a great deal of strength to push open the door made entirely of ice. Cirno had forgotten that without the ability to manipulate ice it was rather heavy when she made the thick slab and shaped it. Light gently slid in through the glass and reflected off everything, even Rumia had to admit that sunlight could be beautiful at times.

"Cirno…?" Rumia called out, slowly floating an inch off the ground now as she doubted she would be able to keep her balance on the frozen flooring. The nagging feeling from the morning only got worse as she failed to find her Ice Fairy friend.

Cirno, much like the entirety of her group, had a few items that the group had stolen or gifted to each other. She saw a small chalk board and several sticks of chalk that the small group had used to play games with, or simply drawn on it. The picture of the group that Cirno had been given was framed much like Rumia's, but hung on a wall instead of in a locked cabinet. On a small table carved from wood that the other 3 had crudely carved for their friend, Rumia saw a large book that the group had stolen from the Witch. It was a book of spells, and the group had spent days trying to learn to do them. In the end all of them but Cirno eventually gave up and decided to just let Cirno have it instead of sharing it. The Ice Fairy had said she was slowly making progress on learning some new ice magic recently, but hasn't showed them any of it yet.

Rumia continued exploring the rest of the house, calling her friends name and expecting to find her asleep in her bed, when she didn't Rumia finally realized what the odd nagging feeling in her head was. She was scared and worried that something happened to her friend, her searching grew frantic and soon she found herself standing in front of the table the 3 had carved for Cirno, a note that was hidden in the book of spells grasped in her hands.

"If you wish to find truth in the death you have been dealt, seek the Dirty Little Secret in the Bloody Mansions basement." Rumia read aloud. She didn't understand what any of it meant, but as she stared at the words Bloody Mansion, she knew what they meant, The Scarlet Devil Mansion, where the vampire that had covered the sky in red mist lived. She swallowed loudly, her mouth suddenly feeling extremely dry. Cirno went there alone, of course she did, she was the group's leader and always ready to pick a fight or investigate where her or others are not wanted. The vampire is said not to like uninvited guests, and if she found out Cirno was looking for some sort of secret…

Rumia flew out of the house as fast as she could, the note grasped tightly in her hand as she became a black blur. She wouldn't let one of her only friends get hurt, she couldn't go to the island herself; sure that Cirno had and was most likely being held captive by the evil people that lived in that mansion. She flew to her home, and grabbed the small bag of coins she had before rushing off to the home of the one person she knew had defeated all the bad people in that mansion, The Hakurei Shrine, all fear of the Red-White gone as she sped towards the shrine.

She was a black, white, and red blur as she flew as fast as she could towards the red shrine gate in the distance. The Doll Maker crying out and grabbing onto one of her dolls and pulled it out of the way of the speeding Youkai as she flew back towards her home, coming home from an experiment. As she moved closer, she slowly remembered what had happened the last time she had come too close to the shrine; Reimu wasn't alone at the shrine much anymore and the 3 that stayed and helped the less then fortunate Shrine Maiden did not like Rumia very much.

Before she could slow herself down she flew through the shrine gate, and found herself blinded by a sudden flash of light and heat as she tumbled into a painful landing on the ground.

**A/N: And this chapter is revised, prepare for more incoming chapters as I continue writing my odd little ideas for your enjoyment. Rumia really is one of my favorite Touhou characters, so writing her was very fun. I do not feel I did her justice though, she isn't very childlike here and I apologize for that. **

**So before going on to the next chapter, how about you add a review of your thoughts on this so far? Maybe give a little guess as to who it was that blasted Rumia out of the sky? No going onto the next chapter either, that's cheating.**

**Next Chapter Character: Reimu**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Requests to Paradise**

"It's gonna be another one of those days." The Shrine Maiden of Paradise said to herself, already feeling a slight bit of dread in her gut that always came along with her bad days. She slowly climbed out of bed, looking out the window to see it was a little before noon, the Miko had slept in again. She sighed, getting up and changing into her normal outfit from her sleep wear.

It had been slow since the last Incident was resolved, and Reimu was enjoying the down time. Even if she was like always running low on money, she could actually relax thanks to the jobs she was doing were simple. As she grabbed her purifying rod and put it on the table in the main room of the shrine for easy access, she had a feeling to look inside one of the rooms she used for storage. The room was piled high with books, old items that she had lost interest in, and in the corner almost completely covered in dust, a strange looking girl.

Reimu jumped and almost cried out in surprise at what she thought to be Sakuya Izayoi hiding in amongst the junk, but after a few seconds she realized the girl hadn't moved. She blinked as she slowly remembered who it was, Ruukoto, the robotic maid she had gotten years ago when she wished for "Something to help keep the shrine clean." The girl had been enthusiastic about cleaning the shrine and doing her chores, but unfortunately not very good at them. The robot servant also eventually seemingly broke and went to sleep, not waking back up. Reimu had for some reason put her in here and forgotten about her, she felt more than a tad of guilt for doing so, especially since she could probably take her to that Kappa and get her fixed.

"I'll do just that Ruukoto, and you will be good as new." Reimu mumbled, not able to shake the feeling of guilt, yet also wondering why she had put the girl in that room in the first place. The more she thought about it, the more her head began to ache, so she decided to just let it come back on its own. Old memories tended to eventually show back up in Gensokyo. She slowly shut the door back, almost thinking the girl was asleep. She remembered as she shut the door that the girl was deactivated, and the guilt flared up once more.

Reimu then blinked as she heard something like a wild and angry Youkai growling, and turned, pulling a charm out before blinking as there was nothing there. The noise returned, and Reimu blushed heavily, realizing that it had been her own stomach being that 'angry Youkai.' She went about preparing some breakfast for herself, quietly humming but not able to shake that feeling of dread in her stomach. She blinked as she suddenly heard some sort of commotion outside, someone screaming from the sounds of it. She stood and walked over to the door, looking out she found the Three Fairies of Light, Sunny Milk, Star Sapphire, and Luna Child all holding something down in a large bag.

Instead of telling them to let whoever it was out of the sack, she had simply shut the door to the shrine back and went back to her breakfast. The fairies had a habit of pranking anyone who came to the shrine, and it was probably just another Youkai judging from the size of the bag. Interrupting their pranks before had simply made things worse, so she had resolved to just let them play out on their own mostly. After she finished she went about cleaning the inside of the shrine, trying her hardest not to get involved in the antics of those three fairies. Reimu may have befriended the 3 after they had stopped pranking her, but she still didn't approve of what they did to humans and their fellow Youkai. As she opened the door back though, she found the found the still tied bag sitting in front of the shrine. Apparently the 3 had tied it shut and left it lying there in front of the shrine, whoever it was inside apparently having gone deathly quiet and very still.

It wasn't without worry that whoever was inside it had been suffocated by the three pranksters. She undid the poorly tied knot that had probably taken the combined brain power of all 3 of them to tie. She sighed as she moved it down, showing a unruly mop of blonde hair with a red amulet tied into it. Of course it was that Youkai of Darkness; the 3 fairies didn't like her and went out of there way whenever they saw her to prank her even more than they did when Reimu herself was the subject of their tricks. She gently pulled the bag down off the Youkai and helped her out of it, she did not hate the small Flesh Eating Youkai, but she also didn't enjoy her company very much.

"There little Youkai, now if you would, leave before those 3 come back and decide to turn you into a tree ornament." Reimu said, beginning to turn back towards the shrine. Yet she found herself turning to look at the Youkai again, a look in the small Youkai's eyes made Reimu stop and stare back. The small bag full of coins she held out to her also helped get the Shrine Maidens attention, the jingling of the coins like music to her ear. She raised an eyebrow and gently took the bag, feeling its weight. "What's this for?" She said, and the Youkai suddenly shoved a letter up into the shrine maiden's face.

"Please! Go help Cirno, someone gave her that letter and I think she went to the vampire's mansion!" She stammered as Reimu took and slowly read the letter, and it didn't take long for her to recognize the neat hand writing of Yukari Yakumo. But as she slowly realized just what the letter meant, her eyes widened. Yukari had sent the Ice Fairy to the basement of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, where Flandre Scarlet was kept locked away! She quickly turned and rushed back into the shrine, grabbing her spell cards and purifying rod. On her way out she dropped the small bag of coins onto her table. "Now…Rumia," Reimu began, having to struggle to remember the Youkai's name. "I know your worried about Cirno but I need you to not tell anyone about that note, okay? Say Cirno is at home with a cold or something." She said, knowing the idea of an Ice Fairy catching a cold was impossible, but she hoped the small Youkai understood what she meant by it.

"O-okay Reimu…please save her…" Rumia whimpered out, tears in her eyes. Reimu gently patted her on the head before taking flight towards the Misty Lake. She knew that the Youkai of Darkness had a deep written fear of her since they had first met in the Forest of Magic during the Scarlet Mist Incident; well it had apparently evolved into a downright fear of going outside alone without being shrouded in darkness from what she had heard. It must have taken every ounce of courage for the girl to not only leave her home, but come to the very source of her fears for help. Reimu knew the girl was loyal to her friends, but she didn't realize just how much until now.

She smiled to herself slightly, she was sure Cirno was fine. Even if she managed to get to into the mansion last night, there was no way for her to know how to get into the basement, Remilia and Sakuya were the only ones with keys to the door. But still dread and worry filled her for the small ice fairy as she remembered just who had sent the letter. If Yukari wanted to start something, she would find a way to. She didn't understand what the Border Youkai was trying to do, but she would certainly ask her once she was sure Cirno was safe.

She had no real feelings for the Ice Fairy, but she had at least tried along with the Three Fairies of Light to help with supporting the shrine against Myouran Temple. A favor demanded a favor she supposed, and this would be a simple way to return the favor…not to mention the small Youkai had paid her to do so.

As Reimu neared the Misty Lake, she froze up as she heard an explosion from nearby, and turning she found Danmaku shooting up from in front of Marisa's house. She blinked and looked closely, and couldn't see anyone fighting the Black-White Witch she saw standing in front of the house…seemingly staring up at her. She sighed as she realized her friend had done that to get her attention, she supposed it must be something important if she shot Danmaku up into the air. At least Reimu hoped it was important, she just prayed it wasn't a new Incident starting up.

**A/N: There we go, Reimu's chapter finished. It wrote itself really, but Reimu is still a very hard character to write for. Her personality is very hard to place on paper, and I find myself wondering how ZUN himself does it.**

**Next Chapter Character: Marisa**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: A Witch's Research**

Marisa sat quietly at her kitchen table, alchemical potions, spell tomes, and books on Youkai scattered around it. Marisa was still trying to understand everything Sakuya had told her and what she had discovered in looking into it. Marisa leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. The comedy of the scene was not lost to her as she remembered their meeting, but she found herself unable to laugh, even at the fact of for once in her life, she was speechless.

The Witch had seen Sakuya approaching her home, and had quickly assumed she might have been coming to retrieve some of her 'borrowed' spell tomes. She was gonna return them! ...Eventually, she just wasn't done with them. Not to mention she still had to get the one back that Cirno and her friends had taken. She admitted that it was a good idea, using the bird and bug Youkai as a distraction so that the Cirno and that Darkness Youkai could sneak in and grab the book.

Marisa was already crawling out of the back window of her house when the maid suddenly appeared in the windowsill, causing the magician to fall back into her home and onto her head. She started spouting out excuses as to why she was sneaking out. "Of course I wasn't trying to run; I simply wanted some fresh air and didn't want to use the door!" She had cried out, but then when she looked up at the Maid and saw the serious look in her eyes, she knew this was about more than her meager thefts.

She got up from the floor, and then invited the maid formerly into her house…even though by that point the maid had already stepped in through the window. She offered Sakuya some tea, which she quickly declined.

"I will not be staying long Marisa." She said, sitting quietly across from Marisa who had quickly prepared a cup of tea for herself; never really the type to not make something for herself simply because a guest didn't want any. As Marisa sat and quietly sipped the cup of tea she held in her hands, Sakuya began.

"The Mistress' Sister has escaped her confinement." She said plainly, and Marisa almost choked on the tea she was swallowing. Flan was free!? She had a friendly relationship with the younger Scarlet, but knew her instability emotionally meant she needed to be kept locked away for everyone's safety. She knew the girl held more destructive power then even Marisa herself…something that caused a strange sort of jealousy for the unstable Scarlet. She quickly regained her composure, a grin forming on her face as she sat the cup down on the table.

"And I expect you want me to hunt down the little firework, right?" The Witch asked, raising an eyebrow as she leaned back in the chair. Sakuya looked down at the floor and slowly shook her head.

"Not right now, but if it comes to it we would like you to assist us in the hunt. For now, we want your expertise on where this might have come from." The Time Stopping Human said, pulling a large white feather out of her pocket and handing it to Marisa. The Witch carefully took it and looked it over, the energy radiating from it was from a Youkai, and an extremely powerful one at that, but she couldn't place where she had felt this power before, the memory dancing out of reach.

"I'll examine it overnight and tell you what I find." The witch quietly said, her curiosity peaked by the feather. "But first, what does this have to do with the Oh-So-Cute-And-Destructive-One being on the loose?" Marisa had asked, using a nickname she had created after heating what Sakuya had nicknamed Meiling. The Maid looked to be in turmoil if she should tell the information to the witch, who sighed and held the feather out for Sakuya to take back.

"If you can't tell me, then I have no reason to help in this little Investigation." The witch had said, and smiled as she saw the maids defenses crumble, Sakuya pushing the feather back into Marisa's hand. "We found a few of them in the basement, we think someone had snuck into the mansion last night and either convinced The Mistress' Sister to blast a way out of the mansion and follow them, or enraged her and was subsequently obliterated before Flandre blasted a hole out of the basement and mansion." Sakuya explained, Marisa having gone quiet as she processed the thought. Few people knew of the Scarlet Mansion's Dirty Little Secret, or at least few had until that Tengu had written an article on the sisters.

Perhaps a Youkai had read the article and been foolish enough to try and fight the small vampire? But how would they get into the basement without a key, since she was sure that Remilia and Sakuya kept their keys on them at all times, and even Patchouli didn't have one. Her eyes widened as she remembered Patchouli, the Magician should have been able to keep Flandre in the mansion by causing it to rain! Did something happen to her friend and larceny victim?

"Is Patchouli alright?" Marisa blurted out, not able to conceal the worry in her voice. Marisa did enjoy causing trouble for the fellow Magician, but she would never wish actual harm on her…well, except when she herself is the one doing it.

"She is alright, we found her knocked out in her library after we found Flandre gone. Apparently she had been knocked out with a large book." Sakuya said, and rubbed her temples. Marisa could understand why the Maid had a headache, whoever had started this had known exactly what to do to make sure that nothing could get in the way of…whatever it was they were doing.

After they finished their conversation, Sakuya had left. The maid was still searching for Flandre, but she looked exhausted and it was obvious to the Witch she had been using her powers too much today. "You should go back and rest. I'll get Reimu, she and I can search for Flandre for a bit, if you find her in the state you're in and she doesn't come back willing you might…"_might end up dead._ The witch finished in her head, she knew Flandre would never kill anyone on purpose, but she didn't really know how to pull punches. Sakuya stared at her with the blue orbs that seemed so much older than the rest of her. Sakuya looked ready to protest, but then saw the serious look in the Witch's eyes before she slowly nodded and walked out of the front floor and taking flight back towards the mansion.

Now Marisa sat in her house, the clock showing it to be a quarter till noon. She had read through all her notes, tomes and books to try to find where this feather had come from. Eventually she had found the entry she subconsciously knew was there, and as she read the name of the type of Youkai, the memory returned to her that had been at the edge of her mind.

Seraph. This feather had come from a Seraph. Marisa stared at the entry, the old drawing next to it of a girl with 6 white feathered wings and blue hair with flowing white robes and a large staff. The caption under it read the name of this supposedly angelic being: Sariel, The Angel of Death. She had heard this name twice before, once when she was training under that ghost…what was her name? Marisa knew she should know the name, yet found it at the edge of her mind just out of grasp. She had actually seen the Seraph during that training, and it was from that day she remembered the power the feather radiated, even in its weakened state.

The other time she had heard the name was why she knew that this couldn't be possible. Sariel was supposedly the last Seraph, or she was until Reimu herself had defeated and in the end killed the Angel of Death. It didn't add up, the final Seraph was gone, yet she held a feather in her hand of one. She dropped the feather onto the table and just leaned back in the chair, and she sat there still, trying to piece together this puzzle with pieces of all different shapes and sizes.

She needed to talk to Reimu, she knew more about that fight with Sariel then Marisa did, after all she was the one in it. Maybe she hadn't actually killed the Seraph and simply thought she had. She stood and grabbed her broom, Spell cards, and Mini-Hakkero. She shoved the cards and small furnace into her pocket before walking outside and was about to take off as she saw her old friend flying above nearby. She blinked, but grinned, Marisa always did have good luck.

She fired some Danmaku in the air and looked up at her friend, smiling as she began to come close; Marisa had a lot to talk to her about. In the back of her mind she continued trying to remember the green haired ghost who had taught her magic so long ago. Why was it so hard to remember this woman?

**A/N: I apologize for the heavily delayed update, Spring Break and a number of other personal reasons have kept me from uploading this chapter. I know it is rather short, but I already have Chapter 6 written and just need to revise it. The story shall really get moving after Chapter 6. I shall also be uploading one or two Oneshots soon, so watch out for them.**

**Next Character: Cirno.**


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